Our guide to all the planned Colchester town centre regeneration

These proposals tend to trickle through to the public bit by bit.

You will probably read about each proposal countless times before you see them come to fruition.

Often a scheme will be “put forward”, by a developer and it will be in the news then.

Then there might be a planning application submitted. Again, you would read about it.

At some point down the line, there will be a recommendation from Colchester Council planners. That’ll be in the news.

Then there will be a decision take by the authority’s planning committee. You can be sure that will be in the news.

Depending on the result of that, this list can go on - just think of the exciting but divisive Tollgate Village scheme which, having been the subject of a planning appeal, will now be decided after a High Court challenge.

So, what do we know is going to happen in Colchester town centre?

QUEEN STREET

The eastern side of Colchester, by the council’s own admission, has been largely neglected.

While the western end of High Street has seen a £30 million investment from Fenwick, Queen Street has always been the poor relation.

That is now changing.

Early next year, Curzon will open a new three-screen cinema in Roman House, complete with roof-top terrace bar and a separate ground floor bar.

The art-house cinema had initially hoped to open this autumn but it was delayed until early next year to coincide with Oscar season.

The cinema will be the cornerstone of a separate £30 million food and drink-led quarter, which will be built in place of the former Keddies department store, which is being demolished.

There will also be an 87-bed hotel and a student accommodation block.

Speaking on the development, Colchester Council regeneration boss Tim Young (Lab) said: “We’ve never made any secret about looking at what could be done on this side of the town centre.

Days gone by - Queen Street in the 1970s

“I suppose the council is now putting its money where its mouth is.

“This is the first step on the way to making this part of Colchester somewhere where people are attracted to.

“With Firstsite already in place, the new cinema coming and the social side of things we have planned, it is an exciting time for the town.”

As yet, no planning application has been submitted but one is due this year.

The scheme is being brought forward by Building Partnerships and it is hoped it will be completed in 2019.

LONG WYRE STREET

The former Sale Shop store shut its doors for the last time in 2014.

Since Townrow closed, despite building owners the East of England Co-op have attempted to lure retailers to the town.

Vacant - the former Townrow building

But first choice tenant Primark chose to take up the former BHS store, alongside it, while other businesses were understood to have been put off by the vast shop space.

Plans have now approved to convert the building into five restaurants, two shops and 24 new flats.

The plans themselves actually go against Colchester Council’s own planning strategy, because it would mean more than two non-retail premises in a row.

However, council bosses decided the advantages of the scheme far outweighed the disadvantages.

Building work is understood to be beginning next year.

Just a stone throw away from the former Townrow building, the well-known former Jacks shop is also undergoing a refurbishment.

It will become a restaurant on the ground floor with seven luxury flats on the upper floors.

VINEYARD GATE

That old chestnut.

We’ve been writing about exciting plans for Vineyard Gate for close to two decades.

The idea is to lure shoppers further into the town, thus regenerating the whole of the east and south side of the town centre.

But it has not been an easy ride.

Initial plans stalled, like many developments around the world, when the global economic crisis hit in 2007.

But they have never quite gathered the momentum again.

More recently, Colchester Council has severed ties with the Caddick Group, which was meant to lead the development.

The authority has bought all the property gathered by Caddick and has also added to the portfolio by buying up a number of smaller units in Osborne Street.

There are, however, some outstanding plots of land still in private ownership, which is less than ideal for any new developer considering investing in the project.

As we reported last week, the whole project is now in doubt.

Council boss Paul Smith admitted a cooling of interest not only from potential tenants but also from prospective developers since the controversial Tollgate Village plans were given the go ahead in August.

As it stands, no planning application has been submitted and no lead developer has been appointed.

It appears - as was claimed during the two-week planning appeal into Tollgate Village - the development is years away.

PRIORY WALK

By Colchester Council’s own admission, Priory Walk has suffered badly since a busy bus station yards away was moved.

Colchester bus station was moved from Queen Street to Osborne Street in 2013 - severely cutting the arcade’s passing trade.

At the moment, just Sainsbury’s remain open.

Council leader Paul Smith has set out the authority’s wishlist for the privately-owned area to become a “niche” shopping street.

He said: “I think it is fair to say Priory Walk has suffered because of the change in footfall in the town centre.

“When we had the old bus station, it was a great through-way to the town centre.

“But the bus station has moved and Priory Walk is no longer on that route.

“I think now a full-scale retail offer would suffer because you wouldn’t necessarily go there.

“I think what we need there is something people would specifically go for and I think to do that you’ve got to look at small businesses and niche retailers and with easy-in, easy-out leases.”

It is not known what the arcade owner’s plans are for the area and there is no obligation on them to follow through on the council’s proposal.

CROUCH STREET

The former Odeon, in Crouch Street is nothing if not an emotive subject.

Plans are due to go before Colchester Council’s planning committee late this year, which will see the iconic building turned into 35 apartments and two shops.

The old auditorium will be demolished while the familiar Art Deco facade will be maintained. Councillors will debate BluMarble Property’s scheme before the end of the year.